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stomach pain and pressure?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 1/2/2009 6:52 PM (GMT 0)
I have just noticed the last few days after I eat I get a bloated feeling.  Stomach is crampy and feels distended, like i over ate.  Which I didn't, all I had for lunch today was a can of spinach, and a little water.  It doesn't seem to matter what I eat.  I also get pressure on my lower abs, like I have to go to the bathroom.  ANd I'm talkin immediately after eating.  Not even 5 minutes have went by since I finished the spinach.  ALso just feel so bloated and full.  This is not normal for me.  Used to eat full big meals, last month or so have cut back to smaller 4-5 meals a day.  But this bloated crampy pressure is new here in the last couple days.

 I must say though with the gluten free and the spinach/sunflower diet my Bm's have went from 15 plus a day to 2-3 in the mornings.  plus I actually have been having partially formed stools, not the D.  So I feel this diet is working am just confused about the bloated fgeeling, and the cramping.  Any ideas?

Posted 1/2/2009 7:19 PM (GMT 0)
Could be from your stools becoming more formed and your colon still being a little raw so it causes a weird sensation. If that's the case just give your colon more time to heal and it should go away. Or maybe its difficult for your digestive system to handle a full can of spinach a day, In the past I read that some people had a hard time with a full can. You could try eating a full can every other day, or a half can a day.
Posted 1/2/2009 7:57 PM (GMT 0)
really would hate to cut back since I've seen results. Will give it a little more time... see if this gets better or worse. It almost ( not quite ) feels like the feelin I had when I was headin into C-diff a couple years ago. Said somthing to my pharm at the time and he recognnised the syptoms, specially since I had just started a strong anti-biotic for infected poison ivy. He started me on a month of pro-biotics and that fixed it. Of course a few months after that started my problems and led to my first flare ( still in ). But I already have been takin pro-biotics since diagnosed with UC. Really like that pharm, to bad he had to move away, Trusted him more than most doc's. He was a wealth of knowledge..
Posted 1/2/2009 8:22 PM (GMT 0)
I don't think it would hurt to just cut back for a few days just as a process of elimination type of thing, so you could get an idea if its caused by the spinach.  I know what you mean though. When I was seeing results before I was sure about what was helping I was afraid to change anything. I have never had C-diff so you know better than I if that could be your problem.
Posted 1/2/2009 8:25 PM (GMT 0)
Like i said it doesn't feel quite the same as c-diff. Actually my mind says if this is working then I should UP the spinach. Am not doing that for a few reasons... mainly i just don't like the taste. And Then i would be fraid of not having a well rounded enough diet if i ate a can twice a day. Hopefully this is just a blip and is nothing.
Posted 1/2/2009 9:31 PM (GMT 0)

 

Post Edited (Cfromutah) : 1/4/2009 12:14:34 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/2/2009 11:02 PM (GMT 0)
most definately will keep this in mind. Calcium is prob one of my week points for sure. As I can't tolerate milk or yorgurt. cheese seems okay though. Ice cream has me runnin for toilet in 20 minutes or less. So i will keep this mind... I did eat more chese than normal over the holidays with chese trays being in abundance. thought they were safe for me... maybe, from what your saying, I now have a slight overload of calcium in my system, and need to cut back on the dairy for a few days.
Luckily tonight is fresh venison stew with home canned veggies. Luckily for me I have always gradened and canned because i like the taste. And I have always hunted and raised my own beef. Been a decently healthy way to live I guess. Now I just have to be more diligent about it.
Posted 1/2/2009 11:12 PM (GMT 0)
 

Post Edited (Cfromutah) : 1/4/2009 12:15:06 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/3/2009 1:09 AM (GMT 0)
I have a good friend currently takin remicade for R arthitis. I will talk to her and see what she thinks. She is also an RN and should understand all this. I'll call her tommorrow and see if I can't put the two of you in touch.
Posted 1/3/2009 4:19 AM (GMT 0)
uncle buba, try taking a digestive enzyme with wach meal and see it that helps the gas etc...i use Digest Gold...curious did you order the peppermint yet?
Posted 1/3/2009 1:42 PM (GMT 0)
I am lookin at some other health food stores before I order off the net. I hate ordering anything online anymore. I already went through an identity theft situation about 4years ago. I was able to get it all cleaned up and not have it hurt my credit but it was a pain in the butt. But if worse case scenario that i can't find it then I will break down and order off the net.
Posted 1/3/2009 2:44 PM (GMT 0)

Unclebubba,

I was just wondering where in NE Ohio are you located? I saw one of your postings about the Cleveland Clinic, that is where my GI is.

Fuzypants

Posted 1/3/2009 2:48 PM (GMT 0)
Am 30 minutes east of canton. But with my job as a horseshoer I get up into the wadsworth, medina area shoeing. One of my clients is on the heart team at cleveland clinic and checked out my GI for me. He is is canton. She claimed he was really good, one of the aknowledged "experts" in the area on this type of disease. My sister is also head of clinical trials for cancer research for the aultman foundation. SHe also speaks very highly of my GI. She also assists with some of the remicade trial and such. Lucky for me... some free info when needed. LOL
Posted 1/3/2009 5:26 PM (GMT 0)

Unclebubba,

Thanks for getting back to me. I am in Mansfield, half way between Cleveland and Columbus...Sounds like you have a pretty cool job. I am down here in the Air National Guard unit in town. I used to see a GI in Canton as well, it was at a private practice with 3 docs. It was my 2nd doctor with my UC experience, and it wasn't very good for me. Immediately he talked about removing my colon...scared the heck out of me. Then he told me to eat fatty foods that slide through your colon easily, and don't eat vegetables. I was young and clueless, but it didn't seem to add up. I understand staying away from raw veggies in a bad flare, but I couldn't see eating useless food with little nutritional value when we do not absorb properly as it is. He then told me not to have children. After reading many of the posts on this forum it is obvious that you can have healthy children and survive the pregnancy. When I changed to the Cleveland Clinic, all of my fears were answered. My doc told me I was far away from having my colon removed, as long as nothing crazy happens, and I could do anything a healthy woman would choose to do. Obvoiusly there are precautions to take, but he made me feel "normal" again....

Nice to know here is someone so close to home that understands. I am sorry for your gluten intolerance...that makes things a bit tougher than they already are for us.

How do you do with the deer meat??? I haven't really tried it since the UC, but I have shyed away from most meats. My theory is, if my teeth struggle to chew it, my colon won't like. So I pretty much just eat chicken and turkey.

Good luck with the ongoing battle. Even though I have been to war, this disease id the hardest battle I have ever fought.

Fuzypants :)

Posted 1/3/2009 6:08 PM (GMT 0)
I have no trouble with meat. Of course like I've said in posts I raise my own beef... Nice and tender, lean not fat. I hunt and venison is really tender and about the healthiest red meat ya can eat. As for chicken... I have a friend who raises those for meat and I buy my chicken off them. Fish I sometimes half to buy at the local butcher shop unless its summer, then there are plenty of farm ponds around. I just go catch some. Except for this dieseas I am pretty lucky in that being self employed in my job means I rarely have to work an eight hour day. So I have extra time to do all this. In the summer time I garden and can. No I'm no where near amish... LOL... Was just raised to be as self sufficient as possible. Besides it tastes so much better, and can even be fun. with the meat its all in the prep. If your struggling to chew it, its either poor quality or not prepared properly.
Little town I live in you probably never heard of... Minerva. Now ya have me curious which doc ya saw in canton. My GI is in a small private practice also. But they do not sound like the same doc.
Posted 1/3/2009 8:06 PM (GMT 0)

Unclebubba,

Feel free to e-mail me. I have it avaliable on my posts. I also grow all my vegetables, and love gardening. I am unlucky however that I travel A LOT with the military so I am forced to eat what is available and provided, such as the chow hall or the "meals ready to eat". WHen I am home I prepare my meat very tender, and only eat very lean meats. I have had deer meat before, but I was never trying to get out of a flare when I had it. I do know where your town is, I actually have a friend who is from there who was in my guard unit.

Most times on trips where the food is less than ideal, I but a loaf of bread and natural peanut butter and eat that for at least one meal a day. The rest of the time I snack on yogurt, sunflower seeds, and fiber bars. It gets boring but it helps me attempt to maintain.

I will look back in my paperwork to see what the doc's name was. I don't know that he is a bad GI doc, but he was either an old school kind of doc, or had seen a lot of bad cases that didn't respond well to medicines. It was really only my 2nd flare when I saw him, and his first line of defense was of course prednisone, ans I ended up on it for over a year. I am 32, and am having problems with my shoulder, which I am pretty certain it has to do with that. Although I have been a paramedic/firefighter for 12 years, so who knows. I am grateful it got me out of an awful flare. He never really mentioned other options after prednisone other than surgery.

My current doc at CCF won't put me on prednisone. He doesn't really discuss surgery, and he is a colorectal surgeon. I know every case is individual, but I like his way of thinking. Maybe mine is mild enough he is able to give a good prognosis. Or maybe he just wants to help us stay positive that we won't need those interventions.

Happy hunting!!

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